1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for reading information of characters, images, or the like from a document and recording the read information at an enlarged scale on a recording sheet of paper.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When information of characters, images, or the like is read from a document and recorded on a recording sheet of paper in ordinary copying machines, the reproduced information can generally be enlarged up to an A3 size at maximum.
The information contained in some materials and documents to be presented in various meetings and conferences often requires them to be enlarged up to A2 or A0 size. However, the ordinary copying machines are unable to produce duplicates enlarged up to those sizes.
There is known an information reading and recording apparatus that comprises a reading unit for reading information from a document and a recording unit for recording the read information at an enlarged scale on a recording sheet of paper, the reading and recording units being successively positioned along a feed path. While the document and the recording sheet are being fed in the same direction along the feed path, the reading unit reads the information from the document, and the recording unit records the read information on the recording sheet.
Since the reading and recording units are successively positioned, if the read information is to be recorded on an A0-size recording sheet, then the overall length of the information reading and recording apparatus should be large enough to equal to the sum of the length of the A0-size recording sheet and the dimension of the reading unit. As a result, the information reading and recording apparatus is considerably long.
The document that bears information to be copied is introduced into the apparatus from an upper rear side thereof and discharged out of the apparatus from a front lower side thereof. Inasmuch as the document travels along the long feed path interconnecting the upper rear side and front lower side of the apparatus, the document may not be fed accurately along the feed path as it tends to be get jammed or otherwise fail to travel properly.
When the same image on a document is to be reproduced on a plurality of recording sheets, the document has to be removed and inserted into the reading unit each time one recording cycle is finished. The process of recording the image on plural recording sheets is therefore tedious, time-consuming, and inefficient.
There is also known an information reading and recording apparatus having a reading unit for partially reading characters, images, or the like from a document with a line sensor or the like, and a recording unit for recording the read information at an enlarged scale on a recording sheet of paper with a thermal head or the like. The characters, images, or the like that have been read by scanning the document several times with the line scanner are recorded at an enlarged scale on a plurality of recording sheets, which will subsequently be joined together into a desired large size.
For example, as shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b of the accompanying drawings, the information on a half of an A4 size document 2 is read by the reading unit, and then recorded at an Al size on a recording sheet 4 supplied from a sheet roll. After the document 2 is discharged from the reading unit, the operator sets the document 2 again in the reading unit. Then, the information on the other half of the document 2 is read by the reading unit, and recorded at an A1 size on the recording sheet 4 in an area other than the previously recorded area. Thereafter, the two recorded areas of the recording sheet 4 are cut off and joined into an A0 size, which is an enlarged copy of the document 2.
With the above information reading and recording apparatus, the operator is required to set the document, which has been discharged from the reading unit, again into the reading unit. When the operator sets the document again into the reading unit, the operator may erroneously insert the document upside down, or direct the document with the wrong end ahead, or position the document out of proper alignment, so that the recorded areas may not be joined into a desired enlarged copy. The problem aggravates itself if a fraction 1/N of the entire width N of a document is read in each reading cycle, the document is read N times, the read information is recorded N times on a recording sheet at successive areas, and the recorded areas are joined into an enlarged copy.
A recording sheet such as a heat-sensitive sheet or a thermal transfer sheet is usually stored as a roll. After a desired visible information has been recorded by a thermal head, the recording sheet supplied from the roll is discharged and cut off into a given length by a sheet cutter mechanism.
Available sheet cutter mechanisms are generally classified into manual and automatic sheet cutter mechanisms. The manual sheet cutter mechanism has a cutter movable across the feed path of the recording sheet for cutting off the recording sheet. Since the cutting edge of the cutter repeatedly cuts off the recording sheet, the cutting edge is worn or damaged badly in a relatively short period of time, resulting in relatively frequent cutter replacement. The maintenance of the sheet cutter mechanism is therefore cumbersome and costly.